National Basketball Association

Victor Oladipo reportedly suffers torn patellar tendon in Heat's Game 3 win

Updated Apr. 23, 2023 2:21 p.m. ET

Victor Oladipo suffered a season-ending torn patellar tendon in his left knee during the Miami Heat's Game 3 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, The Athletic reported Sunday.

A stretcher was wheeled onto the floor to help Oladipo off the court. He wound up walking off himself, with assistance from team personnel. .

"Once the stretcher was out there, he was like, ‘I’m not getting on that thing,'" Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. "So, we'll just have to see. I feel like throwing up right now."

Oladipo was driving down the lane when he appeared to slip as he went airborne. He landed near the basket stanchion and immediately began grabbing at his left knee, while teammates reacted in obvious disbelief.

Players, team medical staff and even some of the referees quickly went over to check on Oladipo.

"It hurts to see somebody that you care about go through something like that," Heat guard Duncan Robinson said. "Obviously, we don't know what it is at this point, but we're all hoping for the best."

Oladipo appeared in just eight regular-season games in the 2021-22 season while recovering from a second surgery to repair his right quadriceps tendon.

He was a two-time All-Star with Indiana before getting hurt in January 2019 — a frightening scene, one where teammates covered his injury with a towel, and he wound up leaving on a stretcher. He returned a year later and Indiana traded him to Houston in January 2021.

The Rockets didn’t keep him long before moving him to Miami, with whom Oladipo played four games in March 2021 before suffering another injury.

It took him most of the 2021-22 season to come back. He got into 15 playoff games for Miami last season, playing much more in the postseason than he did in the regular season. Then came free agency, and Oladipo agreed to a two-year deal with the Heat last summer.

He played in 42 games this season with Miami, his most in any regular season since 2017-18. His role in the playoffs figured to increase now that the Heat are without guard Tyler Herro for at least six weeks; Herro broke his hand in Game 1 against the Bucks.

Oladipo had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in 19 minutes on Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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